


Compulsive Research

by Winterling42



Series: The Woods [3]
Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Exposition, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 10:48:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11146869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winterling42/pseuds/Winterling42
Summary: Ral does some digging. Also, some frogs explode.





	Compulsive Research

Ravnica University was a prestigious liberal arts school deep in the forests of British Columbia. Despite (or perhaps because) of its reputation for intense class regimes and high entrance standards, RU attracted as many hard science students as it did arts majors. RU was known for three things: its incredible gothic architecture, the town it had kind of absorbed into its campus, and cutting edge lab equipment for everything from astronomy to zoology.

Ral liked it here. He liked it a lot. Sure the campus town was a bit like living in a bubble, and SGA was controlled by a dictatorial law professor named Isperia. And yes, the ‘guilds’ could be a little cutthroat at times. But people like Ral thrived on competition, dark coffee, and apartment buildings that were only a ten-minute walk from the labs. If he occasionally got the feeling that the campus town belonged in medieval Poland, well. That was just atmospheric.

There was absolutely nothing unusual about RU. At least, there hadn’t been until Ral met Jace Beleren. No one _spoke_ about a Guildpact, not professors or staff or even the grad students. But as soon as Ral started listening, he heard all about it. It was everywhere; the community garden run by Selesnyan volunteers, the Golgari maintenance crews, the Rakdos BDSM club that had recently been banned from school property. Even his own Izzet League was involved. Though Ral didn’t dare ask Mizzet about it, there were signs. Traces of paperwork with dragon sigils everywhere in the department, late-night meetings between Mizzet and the head of the biology department that ended in literal flames.

And then there was the time all the frogs escaped from the biology building, gathered on the quad, and spontaneously exploded. That wasn’t the really weird thing about it—the really weird thing was that they had gathered to form the words GET YOUR PERMITS, which had to be scraped off of the grass in frog guts. In retrospect, maybe there _was_ something weird about RU.

Ral was watching the grounds crew in their cleaning, wondering why their arms seemed just a little too long to be… _human_. He didn’t even notice Jace walk up beside him.

“Zarek. Enjoying the view?”

He immediately lost interest in the grounds crew, turning to look at Jace’s shadowed profile, hidden by his hood. 

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had something to do with this,” Ral said, just to watch his reaction.

“And now that you know better?” Jace had a crooked kind of smile, one that looked more like mischief than smugness.

Ral stuck both hands in the pockets of his jeans and went back to watching the grounds crew. “Then I’d say you absolutely had something to do with this.” They stood in silence for a moment, as if they didn’t know each other. It was Jace who broke the spell.

“I know you’ve been looking into…things.”

Ral turned his face just far enough for Jace to get the full impact of his nonchalant expression. “I haven’t been hiding,” he said blandly, “But it looks like you have.”

Out on the quad, a series of loud squelches followed large trash bags into the back of a truck. Jace took in a deep, slow breath. “I have my reasons for not wanting to be found,” he said at last. “I’m here to tell you to stop looking.”

“Or what?” Ral scoffed. “You’ll flunk me?”

Jace glared sideways at him, and Ral thought it was pretty adorable. “It’s fucking dangerous to get involved in the guilds, Ral. You’re making yourself a target.”

“Didn’t know you cared.” Ral hadn’t meant to say that. “I can handle myself, thanks. I’m already part of the League.”

Jace crossed his arms, blowing out a long breath that might have been a growl if he’d put some effort into it. “If you want to be part of the Izzet, go ask your professor about it and stop trying to find _me_.”

It was Ral’s turn to give a half-hearted sigh. There just wasn’t any good way to explain that was _Jace_ who was interesting, not the Izzet or the not-quite-human crewmen driving off with their frog guts. At least there wasn’t any way to do it that didn’t creepy and dehumanizing. “If you want me to stop looking, I will,” he said, and each word was like pulling teeth. “But on the chance you’re being an overcautious mother hen…consider keeping me in the loop. I hate not knowing when frogs are going to randomly explode on my lawn.”

“It’s not your lawn,” Jace said, but he was laughing. Ral smiled a crooked smile of his own.


End file.
